Mets Ready To Listen To Offers On Short-Term Veterans

5:56pm: Unhappy about being bumped to second base upon his activation today, Cabrera says he has asked to be traded. (Video via MLB.com’s Anthony DiComo, on Twitter.) He also suggested he indicated a willingness to move to another part of the diamond earlier in the year if the team would pick up his 2018 option, but the Mets weren’t interested (via another DiComo tweet).

2:14pm: The Mets are “open for business now,” in the words of ESPN.com’s Buster Olney (via Twitter), whose report suggests the organization is preparing to throw in the towel on a snakebitten season. Per Olney, the Mets are amenable to dealing away a variety of veteran assets.

As things stand, New York is buried a dozen games back of the division-leading Nationals and yet further out of a largely uncompetitive NL Wild Card race. With several of the organization’s best players on the DL (or otherwise battling injuries or performance issues), it’s hard to see a path to the postseason.

Among the players that could be marketed, per Olney, are outfielders Curtis Granderson and Jay Bruce, infielder Asdrubal Cabrera, and reliever Addison Reed. There are other older players on short-term contracts, too, who will presumably be shopped. First baseman Lucas Duda and southpaw Jerry Blevins appear to be the most likely additional trade candidates on the roster, with veteran infielder Jose Reyes perhaps also being a possibility (though he has struggled). Second baseman Neil Walker would also be an option, at least once he’s back from the DL.

None of those players seem like plausible candidates to receive qualifying offers, so the Mets will need to cash them in over the next five weeks or let them walk for nothing. It’ll be interesting to see just how the deadline develops for the Mets, who have been in the postseason in each of the past two seasons and came into 2017 with high expectations. Despite the step back this year, the club will no doubt still be looking to field a competitive roster next year. That stance could shape the club’s approach to the deadline.

New York will be looking for answers at several positions next year. Third base remains an open question with David Wright still unavailable and Reyes slated to return to free agency, while it’s still unclear whether the team will exercise its option over Cabrera. Even if top prospect Amed Rosario steps in at short, Cabrera could conceivably take over at second for the departing Walker or even slide over to the hot corner. It’s possible that youngster Domonic Smith could take over for Duda at first, though otherwise that’s another area with questions.

There are a few internal options on hand, of course, in addition to Rosario and Smith. Wilmer Flores could slot in at a variety of infield spots and there are some other young infielders on the 40-man. In the outfield, Michael Conforto will handle everyday duties opposite Yoenis Cespedes, likely leaving Brandon Nimmo (or some outside alternative) to platoon with Juan Lagares in center. And while there’ll inevitably be some holes to patch in terms of pitching, the rotation ought to be set (knock on wood) and the bullpen will welcome back Jeurys Familia as the closer. Blevins could also be retained to represent a lefty setup man, as he’s controllable via option.

Why wouldn’t they be in a position to win next year? Obviously this year was a case of injuries and bullpen. With Smith and Rosario probably coming up and the HUGE assumption that their pitching staff is healthy, they should be in contention. The money coming off the books can be reinvested into the bullpen and catcher.

They won’t deal Degrom, the team wants to win long term and he still has a couple more years of control. The mets also love homegrown talent and all of those perspective free-agents are outside acquisitions.

Something drastic like their best hitter (Cespedes) and their best pitcher (Syndergaard) not getting hurt? Mets have also had injuries to a raft of their other top players, like Matz. In short, the Mets will be aiming to compete next year. And even if they weren’t, the Mets wouldn’t be trading DeGrom. Mets will be looking to deal Addison Reed and Fernando Salas from their pitching staff, nothing more.

1-Cespedes always spends time on the DL.
2-Noah can’t be counted on at this point. He had more than a fingernail problem.
3-Katz has not pitched a complete season, much less a dominant complete season.
4-Please don’t quote any offense statistics from AAA. Vegas is a joke for accuracy.
5-summary-start saving for your kids’ college funds or retirement. The Mets are not worth a nickel of ticket investments.
6-stick to your plan and stop supporting owners that are milking you!

dude, maybe you should read what you just wrote and realize you’re combating mikeyank based off your own opinion, versus a lot of points both objective and subjective listed by mikeyank…your retort was to insult him and therefore it looks like you really are the one who doesn’t know anything about baseball

Thanks Sag. It’s hard to be compassionate with these obstinate Metsies who polished their grass balls with claims of a dynasty run. Instead of smelling the manure and questioning the team’s incompetent management of their talented “Dream team” pitching staff; they point fingers at injuries (like that’s not part of every teams’ challenge). They add insult to injury with ridiculous optimism for AAA players who play in an environment that produces make believe stats.

Ok, here goes:
1) “cespedes always on the Dl” has never plaayed fewer than 129 games in a previous season
2) noah syndergaard “cannot be counted on”. Come on, dude.
3) his name is Matz. He was dominant last year, contra Mikey5555
4) no statistics from AAA were quoted, so i stopped reading here
Claims demolished 1 at a time

He’s their most durable pitcher so they need to keep him. I even think they need to add a veteran arm next year for leadership and depth. Matz and Harvey have never been able to stay healthy and Wheeler and Gsellman just aren’t that great.

Right idea by the Mets, as many of their players are free agents this winter and they should try to get something back instead of letting them walk.

Despite the terrible season, I still feel there is enough talent where they have a shot at being competitive in 2018. Conforto, Cespedes, Amed Rosario and Dominic Smith could be part of a high scoring lineup and there is still enviable starting depth (albeit they need to stay healthy).

However, they will need to be creative in the offseason, mainly adding relievers and infield depth, their two main areas of need.

I think the time has come also where they need to consider non-tendering Matt Harvey and releasing David Wright this winter. The former has diminished stuff and has been terrible since the start of 2016, the latter is hurt so frequently where you can’t keep wasting a 40 man spot on him.

I still think that there’s some (if only minimal) trade value to Harvey. He’s shown that he has the ability to pitch well, and you know there is some team out there that would be willing to take a chance on him for the cost of a mid-tier prospect or two. Or, you could always find a bat struggling elsewhere and hope for the ol’ “change of scenery” trade that helps both players.

As far as Wright, I’m almost at your point. I still feel like you have to keep him around because he’s the face of the franchise and all that jazz – I know it’s misplaced loyalty but I can imagine that’s part of management’s thinking on him. In a perfect world, he retires at the end of the season and takes on a coaching role within the organization, with the idea of one day having him become manager (he seems like the kind of guy who is going to go straight into coaching the day he retires, or am I crazy?)

I think a team might make the gamble because they are looking at a 5th starter and not “the dark knight”. Which means they wouldn’t have to give up much but it would probably worth it for the Mets. He definitely does need a change of scenery

Am I right though that if you release Wright you’re stuck with the whole salary but keep him and you recoup some from insurance if he doesn’t play? If so then that allows the team to spend more (although they probably won’t)

If they were able to take out insurance on his contract. Not all contracts are insured, bu almost all long term ones are insured against career-ending injury. Insuring contracts is really expensive for teams so they generally only reserve it for those Wright/Fielder – type contracts.

Releasing Wright means paying his contract. Keeping him on DL means insurance is paying a good portion of said salary. Perhaps a buyout when numbers become doable. But if Wright says no I want to play he gets it all.

the harvey boat left a long time ago in the offseason before he was diagnosed with thoracic outlet syndrome…he has basically destroyed his ceiling and mets are grasping at brass rings hoping he’ll come back to form just like wright

There’s no way they release Wright. His contract is still insured. And as long as the insurance is covering a majority of his contract they would lose more than can possibly be gained. He would also only be taking up one spot on the 40 man which could easily be opened back up in Feb.

Yeah, but they should sure as hell see if he is interested in a buyout, perhaps give him a role in the organization if he chooses to do so. Mets have gotten Cuddyer and Jason Bay to agree to buyouts (albeit with far less money owed).

He is simply going to be a waste of a 40 man spot this winter. I’d hate to see them lose someone to the Rule 5 draft because they didn’t protect him due to DW being on the roster. Or having to DFA someone else if they sign a free agent.

But why would either of them be interested? They’d have to do it for less than they’re paying after insurance and there’s no way he’s signing another contract elsewhere as Bay did. Cuddyer was a different case but I still don’t think he lost much on the deal and in his case he would not have been on the DL with insurance so it made sense for the Mets.

I guess, but theoretically I’d rather have the 16M being recouped put back on the field, but I get why that may not be the case for the Mets and Met fans. We’re talking about the 40th spot meaning it’s usually a “specialist” who may or may not be kept around because he’s a loogy. I respect your opinion, but we’re talking about the 40th guy on a 40 man roster. It’s usually designated as the DFA waiver wire individual. With all that being said the turnover appears to be so significant that it someone didn’t get protected it really wasn’t meant to be.

Baseball is a crazy game. A year ago, I would have said the Mets would be the likely NL team to challenge the Cubs dominance over the next few years, now, they are a complete raging dumpster fire with no pitching whatsoever and nothing in the infield.

As an AL fan with no dog in the hunt, I have to say their manager is a giant reason for the problem. He is insanely bad.

I don’t understand why Jay Bruce can’t be part of the core next year. Cespedes gets hurt often and Bruce can pick up the slack if that happens. I also think Neil Walker should stay as veterans on this team.

Reyes should go, Cabrera should go, Granderson should go, have Rosario and Smith play SS and 1st respectively, although how can anyone believe that those players are certainties? Smith could be a good player but he is not a power hitter. They need to keep Rene Rivera as the backup and they need a much better #1 catcher who can hit.

Flores can also be a super sub instead of Reyes but not a regular 3B. They need to go out and get a Todd Frazier or someone like that for 3B. Legares can be the 4th outfielder.

I wouldn’t dump Reed or Blevins either. They are the strongest pieces in the pen, and when Familia is the closer again it makes the bullpen that much stronger.

Harvey should go, Wheeler unfortunately can’t be relied on,and hopefully Noah can return strong as the #1 with DeGrom as #2. They need Matt for #3 and need 2 solid pitchers for #4 and #5…..they also need 1-2 better bullpen pieces.

Truth is, if the pitching was even marginally better, the Mets would be right there with the Nats, even if the Nats were better player by player. The Mets offense has its issues however they have hit a ton of home runs and scored a bunch of runs.

It is the pitching staff that have coughed up a bunch of homers, a bunch of walks, and their ERA is almost 2 runs higher this season. They need a new manager and a new pitching coach. It’s time for a change….

For me, those are the changes I would make. This team doesn’t need that many changes….just a few to make enough of a difference.

I pretty much agree with everything u laid out except that Wheeler can’t be relied on… His current injury is a shirt term one and he has been out most consistent starter this year besides deGrom… Wheeler will also no longer be restricted by an innings limit next year… Outside of his last 2 starts I liked his progression

Next year will be the make it or break it year for Alderson, he has too many one way streaky players like Duda, Granderson, Walker, Flores, Cabrera, and even Cespedes. There are some important things he needs to do. First he needs a good catcher like Lucroy, second he needs a third basemen like Moustakas, third he needs a centerfielder like Cain, and they let Rosario play SS, and Smith at first. Cespedes is in left and Conforto in right..Then you need to go and get 3 good relief pitchers to revamp the pen. This could make the Mets one of the top teams in the NL. I would also trade Matz if he pitches well the rest of the year because he is injury prone, if I could get something good for him, and I would sign Estrada next year to give the Mets a different look in the rotation.

Great post! To all your points…
1. I like Bruce too but only if Conforto is comfortable playing everyday centerfield 2. I don’t like keeping Bruce AND Walker because neither are that good contact hitters, especially if you want to add Frazier. I still say the biggest mistake they made was letting Murphy go because e was the only pure hitter they had once Wright went down 3. I want to keep Reed and Blevins too unless they bring a decent return which they might considering the demand for relievers 4. Agree on Harvey but they need to sign a veteran free agent to be #3. Matz is too injury prone to Rely on 5. Infield I’m struggling with.

Also I want to sign Lorenzo Cain. I’m sick of non-centers playing center

Obviously, Duda, Walker, and Bruce have value. They are good players. They have value to most teams. The Mets will probably be looking to bring those 3 back since they have no one to replace them with and are not going to trade any of those 3 without getting a significant piece back in exchange. Otherwise the Mets are better off trying to re-sign and Duda and Bruce can be QO’ed.

False comment. Duda and Walker are excellent hitters and obviously have value to any team. Granderson had a rough start but has been very good lately and has been a 3-5 WAR player for 10 years. Nearly any team could use Granderson as Lefty bat that can play all 3 OF positions. Blevins would draw interest from basically any team in baseball in contention, since no one has enough lefties. Maybe Cabrera would fail to draw interest since he has been so bad at SS and doesnt want to move but he has a cheap option for next year. The other guys (Duda, Bruce, Walker, Grandy, Reed, Blevins) would all clearly be tradeable if the Mets chose. Most likely, they keep Bruce, Walker, Duda, Blevins since they’re not looking to punt on next year too.

Duda and Bruce will likely return on qualifying offers. By the way, the comment “none of these players are plausible candidates for qualifying offers” is silly. I would agree that neither is a definite QO, but they are both plausible candidates. Bruce is already worth about 2 WAR in 68 games this year. He has also had multiple 5+ WAR seasons in the past and is possibly having his best offensive season. He has averaged 30 homeruns a season and is a good RF, as well. He would be even more valuable if the Mets would find him a platoon partner. Duda is an even better hitter than Bruce and has been worth 1 WAR in 50 games this year and has had several 3+ WAR seasons. He has been consistently good since the humorous Lucas Duda in LF experiment mercifully ended. I believe both guys will and should be QO’ed as long as they don’t suffer any injuries in the meanwhile. It’s worth noting that neither Neil Walker or Curtis Granderson can be QO’d under the new system, since they received a QO in the past. Walker will likely be re-signed to a 3-year deal, as he and Bruce have indicated they would like to stay. There are rumors that Duda wants to leave, but I expect he’d accept the QO. Granderson will likely be traded as the Mets have no place for him, and he has been extremely hot lately nor was he as bad as people seem to be suggesting at year’s starr since most of his early struggles were bad luck and he is quickly reverting to norms. Grandy has even shown he can still play CF and there was strong interest in him over the offseason, but the Mets preferred to trade Bruce at the time. It would be very suprising if the Mets couldn’t get a prospect for Granderson who is another guy who would be much more valuable as a platoon hitter. Addison Reed and Asdrubal Cabrera are the other two that will likely be traded. Cabrera has a fairly cheap option and I’m only including him since he apparently wants to be traded. The Mets could likely find a place him for him next year at 2B and move Walker to 3B and play Rosario at SS. Arguably you could play Flores at one of those spots and trade Cabrera though. Duda, Bruce, and Walker all need to be back for the Mets to have a prayer of contending next year so will not be traded. Dominic Smith certainly hasnt shown enough to displace Duda this year or next and will need to repeat AAA and show a lot more power this time if he wants to displace him by 2019. As of now, he looks like James Loney lite, certainly not like a hitter in Duda’s caliber. Smith is still young and could develop but there is no way he could outhit Duda next year. Rene Rivera could be dealt for a minor prospect as well since Plawecki is out of options and will need to be rostered next year and so will not be back, though would probably garner so little as to not be worth bothering. Salas has a bad ERA but has actually pitched very well since he joined the Mets and could be another guy dealt. Reyes has been fairly unlucky but the numbers are bad enough that he probably has no trade value and perhaps will be back on another minor league contract to be the backup SS/utility guy next year. The Mets are obviously not trading Harvey right now and the question is unworthy of discussion. As such, the likeliest candidates are Reed, Granderson, Cabrera, Salas, and Rivera. The problem with the idea that the Mets are trading Duda/Walker/Bruce is that would indicate the Mets are punting on 2018 too since there are no FA’s or internal candidates with whom to replace those guys. Neither Smith, Nimmo, or Cecchini has really shown enough to expect them to be MLB starters at this point, if ever, so all 3 of Duda/walker/bruce have to return in 2018.

Let them sign their players to a one year $17M-$18M contracts who cares? “There’s no such thing as a bad one year deal”

I’d rather re-sign a guy to a one year $18MM contract, then for two years $18MM. Reason being, when all that money comes off the books, it puts pressure on ownership to spend (Even cheap owners like the Wilpons) And a smart GM like Sandy Alderson, will know how to best allocate those resources.

Neil Walker’s $17.2MM QO comes of the books this season. What they do with that extra $17.2MM is up to them, it’s more money to play with.

Last year of Granderson’s four year $60MM deal comes of the books ($15MM)

Likewise Last year of Bruce’s deal comes of the books ($13MM)

If they don’t tender contracts to Addison Reed, that’s a further $7.75M of the books, should they choose not to re-sign him. (They really should)

And Let’s not forget Lucas Duda too ($7.25M)

That’s a lot of money coming of the books.

This franchise doesn’t have too many long term deals holding them down. other then Wright’s, which is mostly covered by insurance.

Mets fans should encourage the Wilpon’s to not be cheap, and utilize the QO to re-sign some of their core FA’s

Mostly sensible comments here, can’t respond to it all, will respond to the end though, that Walker, Bruce and Duda cannot be traded due to not having good replacements next year.

They are free agents so the Mets can bring them back whether they are needed or not. The Mets will most likely only bring back any of these guys after waiting out the market and getting them on a decent deal. And the idea that they hae to be brought back because the Mets don’t have good replacements…well they could just sign or trade for other players..that’s the nature of baseball. This team is talented and you want to keep it largely in tact, but largely meaning like 70%, not 90%. You want to shake things up.

Also, while I would have thought a QO is out of the question because of how expensive it is and how people have started accepting them, the Mets having so little money committed next year actually does mean they might make them to Bruce and Duda. So I think that would more be the reason the Mets keep them rather than trade them. But I think they will get decent offers and so will trade them.

Cabrera moved to 2nd base when he was with the Nationals, but won’t do it for the Mets? Is there a bigger issue here or is Cabrera just being selfish? Cabrera comes off looking like a guy who isn’t willing to switch positions to help the team..

He’s willing to switch positions, he just wants his 2018 option picked up…Which the Mets will not do for him…

He’s basically saying, if you aren’t going to commit to me for the rest of this season and next season, then trade me somewhere I am wanted…

I’m actually pretty suprised Cabrera is taking such a hard stance, typically he’s a team first guy. He’s had a regular history of changing positions without complaining or causing a stink, but apparently he really wants some form of commitment from the Mets…or whatever future team he ends up with…

He wants to play hardball, and frankly it sounds like the Mets could care less whether he stays or goes…

Yeah I think he was just offended that the Mets won’t consider picking up the option. I don’t think it’s necessarily selfish but he’s making a mistake.

He’s probably afraid if he struggles at 2nd it decreases his value as a free agent. The problem with that is it’s his diminished skills at short hurting his value. And this will make other teams think he is selfish

dont conflate two different cases together….if the mets pick his option year right now, cabrera has no choice but to play wherever…2nd base is actually a somewhat dangerous position to play because of the pivot and the runners who slide there…you’d have to think twice playing there if youve been a ss or 3b your entire career…see daniel murphy…

Matz to pen in 2018, fix defense infield and outfield bad. reyes -19 why is he playing short and he can’t hit. Flores is bad at first and there must be reason he lost job at short and 3rd. get younger and faster players. Met need a lot of changes look a lot like the giants. If in dought go back and watch how bad they played against Dodgers